First, thanks for that informative essay. I describe Debord's book as 'the Zen master interprets Marxism as it relates to contemporary society'.

It seems to me that two complexes dominate contemporary society, the 'military-industrial complex' identified by President Eisenhower (of all people) and a 'pop culture-marketing complex'. The former is associated with the "concentrated spectacle" and the latter with the "diffuse spectacle." 'Back in the U.S.S.R.' (to borrow a song title) the authorities disallowed the latter and punished people who expressed any divergent opinion about society. Liberal societies have invited comment while using the diffuse spectacle to ensure that people will be too distracted to 'get their act together' to challenge the 'way things are'.